Watercolors by Celia Blanco

"Pushed by the Wind" watecolor on paper 8" x 12"/ 20 x 30 cm I was back painting plein air at my favorite beach spot this weekend. I tried to narrow down the focus on the enormous clouds and the water. The kitesurfers were out trying to catch the waves, driven by the wind. It's a very daring sport. I threw the surfer in at the last moment while he stood still for a moment.There are a lot of varying colors in this landscape. It always makes me think back to my painting teacher's lessons. When painting landscapes,  avoid the sky is blue, grass is green approach. Painting what we think we know but not what is actually in front of us. I saw every part of the landscape was the color it was not "supposed" to be. The ocean, for instance, had an array of colors. In the distance there were turquoise and blues. As it came nearer it changed to purples and the browns-reflecting the sand below. The sky seemed yellow and violet, the sand green. I tried to fi...

Beach day plein air sketch I was able to do a plein air painting at our local beach recently. These works are in order to help me improve and increment my landscape painting skills. I wanted to catch the mood of the morning which was somewhat overcast and despite the ominious weather there were a  few people out on the water enjoying the sea. What I find the most challenging about landscape painting is trying to pick out what is important and dealing with the landscape constantly changing. With a medium like watercolor it can be daunting because you need to plan things in advance. I like the way this approach pushes me to be quicker and to prioritize in order to have the important bits down as I observe what is in front of me before it changes. when I was getting ready to leave, the beach was filling up in spite of the bad weather I dropped my pallette in the sand :(